Former Oceanside Mayor Terry Johnson, whose previous term ended in 2004, has announced he will be back on the ballot for a council seat in November.

It’s likely to be the most interesting election the city has seen in years, for a number of reasons.

Oceanside and several other North County cities recently changed the way they elect their city councils. Candidates now must live in the newly formed district that elects them, instead of representing the city at large. Districts 1 and 2 will be the first in Oceanside to use the new system.

Also, the city’s voters could face two ballot measures — one that would create a local sales tax of 0.5 percent, and another that could help guide the future of the city’s farms, parkland and open space.

So far, no candidates or measures are officially on the ballot. The filing period opens in July.

Johnson and one other person, Christopher Felix, are the only potential candidates as of Friday who had filed formal statements of intention with the Oceanside city clerk’s office. Both live in District 2.

Felix, a church youth minister, could not be reached for comment. Johnson said he’s excited about the possibility of returning to politics.

“I love the diversity of District 2,” said Johnson, 66, a retired union electrician who lives in a house he bought 40 years ago.

Union-Tribune file photo by John Gibbins

Terry Johnson

Terry Johnson (Union-Tribune file photo by John Gibbins)

Johnson was first elected in 1992 and was the city’s first black council member. He was re-elected to the council in 1996, then elected mayor in 2000.

However, he was often outspoken on a number of subjects and ran into political trouble as mayor, particularly after openly criticizing the Police Department when some of the department’s employees complained of racism and sexism. He lost his bid for re-election as mayor to long-time police Officer Jim Wood, who remained mayor until he retired for health reasons in January.

Oceanside is one of San Diego County’s oldest and largest cities, with a population estimated at 175,000 in 2016.

Johnson’s home district is packed with military veterans, retirees, mobile-home parks and a broad range of ethnic and social groups.

Some of the city’s most notorious violent crimes have occurred in District 2, including the 2006 fatal shooting of Oceanside police Officer Dan Bessant during a traffic stop in a gang-plagued neighborhood near the back gate to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

Public safety remains an important issue even though crime rates have fallen in recent years, Johnson said.

“Just because it has cooled down doesn’t mean we need to relax,” he said. “We need to keep those young people busy, and the crime rate should stay lower.”

The city needs to offer more recreational opportunities for young people and work with the school districts to keep kids in school until they get into college, graduate and find jobs, Johnson said.

He’s also a strong supporter of senior citizens and mobile-home tenants, he said, two hallmarks of Oceanside politics.

District 1, which covers the city’s northwestern quadrant, is home to two incumbent council members, Esther Sanchez and Chuck Lowery, and both are expected to seek re-election.

If Sanchez wins in November, Lowery would be off the council and unable to run for the seat again until Sanchez’s term ends in 2022. He would have to move to another district to be a candidate in 2020.

If Lowery wins in November, Sanchez, who was re-elected in 2016, could serve the remaining two years of her term as an at-large council member. However, she could not run for re-election when her term ends in 2020 unless she moves to District 3 or 4 and runs there.

Councilman Jack Feller’s current term also expires in 2020, and he’s the only council member in District 4, which will be due for election that year. District 3, also due for election in 2020, has no current council members living in it.

Also on the November ballot, Oceanside voters are likely to see a half-cent sales tax, which would be the city’s first local sales tax. Revenue from the tax would help pay for police and fire protection, street maintenance, parks and recreation services and other general fund expenses.

City officials have been studying the idea for more than a year, and the council has until August to place the measure on the November ballot. If approved by voters, it would increase the total, including state and county taxes, to 8.25 percent in the city.

Another likely ballot measure is the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources, or SOAR, initiative, which would require a vote by Oceanside residents on any change to land zoned for open space or agriculture in the city’s General Plan.

SOAR proponents have turned in more than 13,000 signatures to the city clerk’s office and are waiting for the minimum number of signatures to be verified by the county registrar of voters.

If the county verifies the minimum of 8,800 signatures, the initiative will be placed on an upcoming City Council agenda, where the council can either adopt the initiative outright or place it on the November ballot.